Search results for: hydrogen storage
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 890

Search results for: hydrogen storage

350 Risk Assessment of Acrylamide Intake from Roasted Potatoes in Latvia

Authors: Irisa Murniece, Daina Karklina, Ruta Galoburda

Abstract:

From food consumption surveys has been found that potato consumption comparing to other European countries is one of the highest. Hence acrylamide (AA) intake coming from fried potatoes in population might be high as well. The aim of the research was to determine acrylamide content and estimate intake of acrylamide from roasted potatoes bred and cultivated in Latvia. Five common Latvian potato varieties were selected: Lenora, Brasla, Imanta, Zile, and Madara. A two-year research was conducted during two periods: just after harvesting and after six months of storage. Time and temperature (210 ± 5°C) was recorded during frying. AA was extracted from potatoes by solid phase extraction and AA content was determined by LC-MS/MS. estimated intake of acrylamide ranges from 0.012 to 0.496μgkg-1 BW per day.

Keywords: potato, roasting, variety, acrylamide, Latvia, risk assessment.

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349 Simulation of Dam Break using Finite Volume Method

Authors: A.Roshandel, N.Hedayat, H.kiamanesh

Abstract:

Today, numerical simulation is a powerful tool to solve various hydraulic engineering problems. The aim of this research is numerical solutions of shallow water equations using finite volume method for Simulations of dam break over wet and dry bed. In order to solve Riemann problem, Roe-s approximate solver is used. To evaluate numerical model, simulation was done in 1D and 2D states. In 1D state, two dam break test over dry bed (with and without friction) were studied. The results showed that Structural failure around the dam and damage to the downstream constructions in bed without friction is more than friction bed. In 2D state, two tests for wet and dry beds were done. Generally in wet bed case, waves are propagated to canal sides but in dry bed it is not significant. Therefore, damage to the storage facilities and agricultural lands in wet bed case is more than in dry bed.

Keywords: dam break, dry bed, finite volume method, shallow water equations.

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348 Straight Line Defect Detection with Feed Forward Neural Network

Authors: S. Liangwongsan, A. Oonsivilai

Abstract:

Nowadays, hard disk is one of the most popular storage components. In hard disk industry, the hard disk drive must pass various complex processes and tested systems. In each step, there are some failures. To reduce waste from these failures, we must find the root cause of those failures. Conventionall data analysis method is not effective enough to analyze the large capacity of data. In this paper, we proposed the Hough method for straight line detection that helps to detect straight line defect patterns that occurs in hard disk drive. The proposed method will help to increase more speed and accuracy in failure analysis.

Keywords: Hough Transform, Failure Analysis, Media, Hard Disk Drive

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347 Application of Motivational Factors for Uploading Films to Websites Ulozto.net and Piratebay.org

Authors: Pavel Janak

Abstract:

This paper studies, maps and explains the interactions between downloaders and uploaders pertaining to the Internet film piracy. This study also covers several motivational factors that influence users to upload or download movies, and thus to engage in film piracy over the Internet. The essay also proposes a model that describes user behavior including their relationships and influences. Moreover, proposed theoretical interactions and motivational factors are applied to the real world scenario, using examples of a data storage webpage server Ulozto.net and webpage Piratebay.org gathering information about downloadable BitTorrents. Moreover, the theory is further supported by description of behavior of real Internet uploaders.

Keywords: Download, film piracy, internet, motivational factors for uploading.

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346 Dynamic Meshing for Material Point Method Computations

Authors: Wookuen Shin, Gregory R. Miller, Pedro Arduino, Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein

Abstract:

This paper presents strategies for dynamically creating, managing and removing mesh cells during computations in the context of the Material Point Method (MPM). The dynamic meshing approach has been developed to help address problems involving motion of a finite size body in unbounded domains in which the extent of material travel and deformation is unknown a priori, such as in the case of landslides and debris flows. The key idea is to efficiently instantiate and search only cells that contain material points, thereby avoiding unneeded storage and computation. Mechanisms for doing this efficiently are presented, and example problems are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of dynamic mesh management relative to alternative approaches.

Keywords: Numerical Analysis, Material Point Method, Large Deformations, Moving Boundaries.

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345 File System-Based Data Protection Approach

Authors: Jaechun No

Abstract:

As data to be stored in storage subsystems tremendously increases, data protection techniques have become more important than ever, to provide data availability and reliability. In this paper, we present the file system-based data protection (WOWSnap) that has been implemented using WORM (Write-Once-Read-Many) scheme. In the WOWSnap, once WORM files have been created, only the privileged read requests to them are allowed to protect data against any intentional/accidental intrusions. Furthermore, all WORM files are related to their protection cycle that is a time period during which WORM files should securely be protected. Once their protection cycle is expired, the WORM files are automatically moved to the general-purpose data section without any user interference. This prevents the WORM data section from being consumed by unnecessary files. We evaluated the performance of WOWSnap on Linux cluster.

Keywords: Data protection, Protection cycle, WORM

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344 Two and Three Layer Lamination of Nanofiber

Authors: Roman Knizek, Denisa Karhankova, Ludmila Fridrichova

Abstract:

For their exceptional properties nanofibers, respectively, nanofiber layers are achieving an increasingly wider range of uses. Nowadays nanofibers are used mainly in the field of air filtration where they are removing submicron particles, bacteria, and viruses. Their efficiency is not changed in time, and the power consumption is much lower than that of electrically charged filters. Nanofibers are primarily used for converting and storage of energy in both air and liquid filtration, in food and packaging, protecting the environment, but also in health care which is made possible by their newly discovered properties. However, a major problem of the nanofiber layer is practically zero abrasion resistance; it is, therefore, necessary to laminate the nanofiber layer with another suitable material. Unfortunately, lamination of nanofiber layers is a major problem since the nanofiber layer contains small pores through which it is very difficult for adhesion to pass through. Therefore, there is still only a small percentage of products with these unique fibers 5.

Keywords: Nanofiber layer, nanomembrane, lamination, electrospinning.

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343 The Effect of Solution Density on the Synthesis of Magnesium Borate from Boron-Gypsum

Authors: N. Tugrul, E. Sariburun, F. T. Senberber, A. S. Kipcak, E. Moroydor Derun, S. Piskin

Abstract:

Boron-gypsum is a waste which occurs in the boric acid production process. In this study, the boron content of this waste is evaluated for the use in synthesis of magnesium borates and such evaluation of this kind of waste is useful more than storage or disposal. Magnesium borates, which are a sub-class of boron minerals, are useful additive materials for the industries due to their remarkable thermal and mechanical properties. Magnesium borates were obtained hydrothermally at different temperatures. Novelty of this study is the search of the solution density effects to magnesium borate synthesis process for the increasing the possibility of borongypsum usage as a raw material. After the synthesis process, products are subjected to XRD and FT-IR to identify and characterize their crystal structure, respectively.

Keywords: Boron-gypsum, hydrothermal synthesis, magnesium borate, solution density.

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342 Experimental Investigation of Vessel Volume and Equivalence Ratio in Vented Gas

Authors: Rafiziana M. Kasmani, Gordon E. Andrews, Herodotos N. Phylaktou, Norazana Ibrahim, Roshafima R. Ali

Abstract:

An experiment of vented gas explosions involving two different cylinder vessel volumes (0.2 and 0.0065 m3) was reported, with equivalence ratio (Φ) ranged from 0.3 to 1.6. Both vessels were closed at the rear end and fitted at the other side with a circular orifice plate that gives a constant vent coefficient (K =Av/V2/3) of 16.4. It was shown that end ignition gives higher overpressures than central ignition, even though most of the published work on venting uses central ignition. For propane and ethylene, it is found that rich mixtures gave the highest overpressures and these mixtures are not considered in current vent design guidance; which the guideline is based on mixtures giving the maximum flame temperature. A strong influence of the vessel volume at constant K was found for methane, propane, ethylene and hydrogen-air explosions. It can be concluded that self- acceleration of the flame, which is dependent on the distance of a flame from the ignition and the ‘suction’ at the vent opening are significant factors affecting the vent flow during explosion development in vented gas explosion. This additional volume influence on vented explosions is not taken into account in the current vent design guidance.

Keywords: Equivalence ratio, ignition position, self-acceleration flame, vented gas explosion.

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341 Metadata Update Mechanism Improvements in Data Grid

Authors: S. Farokhzad, M. Reza Salehnamadi

Abstract:

Grid environments include aggregation of geographical distributed resources. Grid is put forward in three types of computational, data and storage. This paper presents a research on data grid. Data grid is used for covering and securing accessibility to data from among many heterogeneous sources. Users are not worry on the place where data is located in it, provided that, they should get access to the data. Metadata is used for getting access to data in data grid. Presently, application metadata catalogue and SRB middle-ware package are used in data grids for management of metadata. At this paper, possibility of updating, streamlining and searching is provided simultaneously and rapidly through classified table of preserving metadata and conversion of each table to numerous tables. Meanwhile, with regard to the specific application, the most appropriate and best division is set and determined. Concurrency of implementation of some of requests and execution of pipeline is adaptability as a result of this technique.

Keywords: Grids, data grid, metadata, update.

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340 Testing the Performance of Rival Warehousing Policies through Discrete Event Simulation

Authors: João Vilas-Boas, Abdul Suleman, Luis Moreira

Abstract:

This research tested the performance of alternative warehouse designs concerning the picking process. The chosen performance measures were Travel Distance and Total Fulfilment Time. An explanatory case study was built up around a model implemented with SIMUL8. Hypotheses were set by selecting outcomes from the literature survey matching popular empirical findings. 17.4% reductions were found for Total Fulfilment Time and Resource Utilisation. The latter was then used as a proxy for operational efficiency. Literal replication of theoretical data-patterns was considered as an internal validity sign. Assessing the estimated changes benefits ahead of implementation was found to be a contribution to practice.

Keywords: Warehouse discrete-event simulation, Storage policy selection and assessment, Performance evaluation of order picking.

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339 Accelerating Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication on Many-Core GPUs

Authors: Weizhi Xu, Zhiyong Liu, Dongrui Fan, Shuai Jiao, Xiaochun Ye, Fenglong Song, Chenggang Yan

Abstract:

Many-core GPUs provide high computing ability and substantial bandwidth; however, optimizing irregular applications like SpMV on GPUs becomes a difficult but meaningful task. In this paper, we propose a novel method to improve the performance of SpMV on GPUs. A new storage format called HYB-R is proposed to exploit GPU architecture more efficiently. The COO portion of the matrix is partitioned recursively into a ELL portion and a COO portion in the process of creating HYB-R format to ensure that there are as many non-zeros as possible in ELL format. The method of partitioning the matrix is an important problem for HYB-R kernel, so we also try to tune the parameters to partition the matrix for higher performance. Experimental results show that our method can get better performance than the fastest kernel (HYB) in NVIDIA-s SpMV library with as high as 17% speedup.

Keywords: GPU, HYB-R, Many-core, Performance Tuning, SpMV

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338 The Impact of Rehabilitation Approaches in the Sustainability of the Management of Small Tanks in Sri Lanka

Authors: N.K.K. Welgama, W.A.D.P. Wanigasundera

Abstract:

Small tanks, the ancient man-made rain water storage systems, support the pheasant life and agriculture of the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Many small tanks were abandoned with time due to various reasons. Such tanks, rehabilitated in the recent past, were found to be less sustainable and most of these rehabilitation approaches have failed. The objective of this research is to assess the impact of the rehabilitation approaches in the management of small tanks in the Kurunegala District of Sri Lanka with respect to eight small tanks. A Sustainability index was developed using seven indicators representing the ability and commitment of the villagers to maintain these tanks. The sustainability index of the eight tanks varied between 79.2 and 47.2 out of a total score of 100. The conclusion is that, the approaches used for tank rehabilitation have a significant effect on the sustainability of the management of these small tanks.

Keywords: Minor irrigation schemes, Participatory, Small Tanks, Sustainable, Water resource management.

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337 The Internet of Things Ecosystem: Survey of the Current Landscape, Identity Relationship Management, Multifactor Authentication Mechanisms, and Underlying Protocols

Authors: Nazli W. Hardy

Abstract:

A critical component in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem is the need for secure and appropriate transmission, processing, and storage of the data. Our current forms of authentication, and identity and access management do not suffice because they are not designed to service cohesive, integrated, interconnected devices, and service applications. The seemingly endless opportunities of IoT are in fact circumscribed on multiple levels by concerns such as trust, privacy, security, loss of control, and related issues. This paper considers multi-factor authentication (MFA) mechanisms and cohesive identity relationship management (IRM) standards. It also surveys messaging protocols that are appropriate for the IoT ecosystem.

Keywords: Survey of internet of things ecosystem, protocols, identity relation management, multifactor authentication.

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336 Teaching Students the Black Magic of Electromagnetic Compatibility

Authors: Dag A.H. Samuelsen, Olaf H. Graven

Abstract:

Introducing Electromagnetic Interference and Electromagnetic Compatibility, or “The Art of Black Magic", for engineering students might be a terrifying experience both for students and tutors. Removing the obstacle of large, expensive facilities like a fully fitted EMC laboratory and hours of complex theory, this paper demonstrates a design of a laboratory setup for student exercises, giving students experience in the basics of EMC/EMI problems that may challenge the functionality and stability of embedded system designs. This is done using a simple laboratory installation and basic measurement equipment such as a medium cost digital storage oscilloscope, at the cost of not knowing the exact magnitude of the noise components, but rather if the noise is significant or not, as well as the source of the noise. A group of students have performed a trial exercise with good results and feedback.

Keywords: EMC, EMI, engineering project, student laboratory.

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335 Optimum Design of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System Application

Authors: Sarah Abdourraziq, Rachid El Bachtiri

Abstract:

The solar power source for pumping water is one of the most promising areas in photovoltaic applications. The implementation of these systems allows to protect the environment and reduce the CO2 gas emission compared to systems trained by diesel generators. This paper presents a comparative study between the photovoltaic pumping system driven by DC motor, and AC motor to define the optimum design of this application. The studied system consists of PV array, DC-DC Boost Converter, inverter, motor-pump set and storage tank. The comparison was carried out to define the characteristics and the performance of each system. Each subsystem is modeled in order to simulate the whole system in MATLAB/ Simulink. The results show the efficiency of the proposed technique.

Keywords: Photovoltaic water pumping system, DC motor-pump, AC motor-pump, DC-DC boost converter.

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334 Role of Organic Wastewater Constituents in Iron Redox Cycling for Ferric Sludge Reuse in the Fenton-Based Treatment

Authors: J. Bolobajev, M. Trapido, A. Goi

Abstract:

The practical application of the Fenton-based treatment method for organic compounds-contaminated water purification is limited mainly because of the large amount of ferric sludge formed during the treatment, where ferrous iron (Fe(II)) is used as the activator of the hydrogen peroxide oxidation processes. Reuse of ferric sludge collected from clarifiers to substitute Fe(II) salts allows reducing the total cost of Fenton-type treatment technologies and minimizing the accumulation of hazardous ferric waste. Dissolution of ferric iron (Fe(III)) from the sludge to liquid phase at acidic pH and autocatalytic transformation of Fe(III) to Fe(II) by phenolic compounds (tannic acid, lignin, phenol, catechol, pyrogallol and hydroquinone) added or present as water/wastewater constituents were found to be essentially involved in the Fenton-based oxidation mechanism. Observed enhanced formation of highly reactive species, hydroxyl radicals, resulted in a substantial organic contaminant degradation increase. Sludge reuse at acidic pH and in the presence of ferric iron reductants is a novel strategy in the Fenton-based treatment application for organic compounds-contaminated water purification.

Keywords: Ferric sludge reuse, ferric iron reductant, water treatment, organic pollutant.

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333 Complexity Leadership and Knowledge Management in Higher Education

Authors: Prabhakar Venugopal Gantasala

Abstract:

Complex environments triggered by globalization have necessitated new paradigms of leadership – Complexity Leadership that encompass multiple roles that leaders need to take upon. Success of Higher Education institutions depends on how well leaders can provide adaptive, administrative and enabling leadership. Complexity Leadership seems all the more relevant for institutions that are knowledge-driven and thrive on Knowledge creation, Knowledge storage and retrieval, Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge applications. Discussed in this paper are the elements of Globalization and the opportunities and challenges that are brought forth by globalization. The Complexity leadership paradigm in a knowledge-based economy and the need for such a paradigm shift for higher education institutions is presented. Further, the paper also discusses the support the leader requires in a knowledge-driven economy through knowledge management initiatives.

Keywords: Globalization, Complexity Leadership, Knowledge Management.

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332 Design of Open Framework Based Smart ESS Profile for PV-ESS and UPS-ESS

Authors: Young-Su Ryu, Won-Gi Jeon, Byoung-Chul Song, Jae-Hong Park, Ki-Won Kwon

Abstract:

In this paper, an open framework based smart energy storage system (ESS) profile for photovoltaic (PV)-ESS and uninterruptible power supply (UPS)-ESS is proposed and designed. An open framework based smart ESS is designed and developed for unifying the different interfaces among manufacturers. The smart ESS operates under the profile which provides the specifications of peripheral devices such as different interfaces and to the open framework. The profile requires well systemicity and expandability for addible peripheral devices. Especially, the smart ESS should provide the expansion with existing systems such as UPS and the linkage with new renewable energy technology such as PV. This paper proposes and designs an open framework based smart ESS profile for PV-ESS and UPS-ESS. The designed profile provides the existing smart ESS and also the expandability of additional peripheral devices on smart ESS such as PV and UPS.

Keywords: ESS, open framework, profile, PV, UPS.

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331 Exploring DeFi Through Three Case Studies: Transparency, Social Impact and Regulation

Authors: Dhaksha Vivekanandan

Abstract:

DeFi is a network that avoids reliance on financial intermediaries through its peer-to-peer financial network. DeFi operates outside of government control; hence, it is important for us to understand its impacts. This study employs a literature review to understand DeFi and its emergence, as well as its implications on transparency, social impact, and regulation. Further, three case studies are analysed within the context of these categories. DeFi’s provision of increased transparency poses environmental and storage costs and can lead to user privacy being endangered. DeFi allows for the provision of entrepreneurial incentives and protection against monetary censorship and capital control. Despite DeFi's transparency issues and volatility costs, it has huge potential to reduce poverty; however, regulation surrounding DeFi still requires further tightening by governments.

Keywords: DeFi, transparency, regulation, social impact.

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330 Current Distribution and Cathode Flooding Prediction in a PEM Fuel Cell

Authors: A. Jamekhorshid, G. Karimi, I. Noshadi, A. Jahangiri

Abstract:

Non-uniform current distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells results in local over-heating, accelerated ageing, and lower power output than expected. This issue is very critical when fuel cell experiences water flooding. In this work, the performance of a PEM fuel cell is investigated under cathode flooding conditions. Two-dimensional partially flooded GDL models based on the conservation laws and electrochemical relations are proposed to study local current density distributions along flow fields over a wide range of cell operating conditions. The model results show a direct association between cathode inlet humidity increases and that of average current density but the system becomes more sensitive to flooding. The anode inlet relative humidity shows a similar effect. Operating the cell at higher temperatures would lead to higher average current densities and the chance of system being flooded is reduced. In addition, higher cathode stoichiometries prevent system flooding but the average current density remains almost constant. The higher anode stoichiometry leads to higher average current density and higher sensitivity to cathode flooding.

Keywords: Current distribution, Flooding, Hydrogen energysystem, PEM fuel cell.

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329 Size-Reduction Strategies for Iris Codes

Authors: Jutta Hämmerle-Uhl, Georg Penn, Gerhard Pötzelsberger, Andreas Uhl

Abstract:

Iris codes contain bits with different entropy. This work investigates different strategies to reduce the size of iris code templates with the aim of reducing storage requirements and computational demand in the matching process. Besides simple subsampling schemes, also a binary multi-resolution representation as used in the JBIG hierarchical coding mode is assessed. We find that iris code template size can be reduced significantly while maintaining recognition accuracy. Besides, we propose a two-stage identification approach, using small-sized iris code templates in a pre-selection stage, and full resolution templates for final identification, which shows promising recognition behaviour.

Keywords: Iris recognition, compact iris code, fast matching, best bits, pre-selection identification, two-stage identification.

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328 A Graph-Based Approach for Placement of No-Replicated Databases in Grid

Authors: Cherif Haddad, Faouzi Ben Charrada

Abstract:

On a such wide-area environment as a Grid, data placement is an important aspect of distributed database systems. In this paper, we address the problem of initial placement of database no-replicated fragments in Grid architecture. We propose a graph based approach that considers resource restrictions. The goal is to optimize the use of computing, storage and communication resources. The proposed approach is developed in two phases: in the first phase, we perform fragment grouping using knowledge about fragments dependency and, in the second phase, we determine an efficient placement of the fragment groups on the Grid. We also show, via experimental analysis that our approach gives solutions that are close to being optimal for different databases and Grid configurations.

Keywords: Grid computing, Distributed systems, Data resourcesmanagement, Database systems, Database placement.

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327 Hybrid System Configurations and Charging Strategies for Isolated Electric Tuk-Tuk Charging Station in South Africa

Authors: L. Bokopane, K. Kusakana, H. J. Vermaark

Abstract:

The success of renewable powered electric vehicle charging station in isolated areas depends highly on the availability and sustainability of renewable resources all year round at a selected location. The main focus of this paper is to discuss the possible charging strategies that could be implemented to find the best possible configuration of an electric Tuk-Tuk charging station at a given location within South Africa. The charging station is designed, modeled and simulated to evaluate its performances. The technoeconomic analysis of different feasible supply configurations of the charging station using renewable energies is simulated using HOMER software and the results compared in order to select the best possible charging strategies in terms of cost of energy consumed.

Keywords: Electric Tuk-Tuk, Renewable energy, Energy Storage, Hybrid systems, HOMER.

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326 Antioxidative Potential of Aqueous Extract of Ocimum americanum L. Leaves: An in vitro and in vivo Evaluation

Authors: B. T. Aluko, O. I. Oloyede

Abstract:

Ocimum americanum L (Lamiaceae) is an annual herb that is native to tropical Africa. The in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activity of its aqueous extract was carefully investigated by assessing the DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity and hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging activity. The reducing power, total phenol, total flavonoids and flavonols content of the extract were also evaluated. The data obtained revealed that the extract is rich in polyphenolic compounds and scavenged the radicals in a concentration dependent manner. This was done in comparison with the standard antioxidants such as BHT and Vitamin C. Also, the induction of oxidative damage with paracetamol (2000 mg/kg) resulted in the elevation of lipid peroxides and significant (P < 0.05) decrease in activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and catalase in the liver and kidney of rats. However, the pretreatment of rats with aqueous extract of O. americanum leaves (200 and 400 mg/kg) and silymarin (100 mg/kg) caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the values of lipid peroxides and restored the levels of antioxidant parameters in these organs. These findings suggest that the leaves of O. americanum have potent antioxidant properties which may be responsible for its acclaimed folkloric uses.

Keywords: Antioxidants, free radicals, Ocimum americanum, scavenging activity.

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325 Predictability of the Two Commonly Used Models to Represent the Thin-layer Re-wetting Characteristics of Barley

Authors: M. A. Basunia

Abstract:

Thirty three re-wetting tests were conducted at different combinations of temperatures (5.7- 46.30C) and relative humidites (48.2-88.6%) with barley. Two most commonly used thinlayer drying and rewetting models i.e. Page and Diffusion were compared for their ability to the fit the experimental re-wetting data based on the standard error of estimate (SEE) of the measured and simulated moisture contents. The comparison shows both the Page and Diffusion models fit the re-wetting experimental data of barley well. The average SEE values for the Page and Diffusion models were 0.176 % d.b. and 0.199 % d.b., respectively. The Page and Diffusion models were found to be most suitable equations, to describe the thin-layer re-wetting characteristics of barley over a typically five day re-wetting. These two models can be used for the simulation of deep-bed re-wetting of barley occurring during ventilated storage and deep bed drying.

Keywords: Thin-layer, barley, re-wetting parameters, temperature, relative humidity.

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324 All Proteins Have a Basic Molecular Formula

Authors: Homa Torabizadeh

Abstract:

This study proposes a basic molecular formula for all proteins. A total of 10,739 proteins belonging to 9 different protein groups classified on the basis of their functions were selected randomly. They included enzymes, storage proteins, hormones, signalling proteins, structural proteins, transport proteins, immunoglobulins or antibodies, motor proteins and receptor proteins. After obtaining the protein molecular formula using the ProtParam tool, the H/C, N/C, O/C, and S/C ratios were determined for each randomly selected sample. In this case, H, N, O, and S coefficients were specified per carbon atom. Surprisingly, the results demonstrated that H, N, O, and S coefficients for all 10,739 proteins are similar and highly correlated. This study demonstrates that despite differences in the structure and function, all known proteins have a similar basic molecular formula CnH1.58 ± 0.015nN0.28 ± 0.005nO0.30 ± 0.007nS0.01 ± 0.002n. The total correlation between all coefficients was found to be 0.9999.

Keywords: Protein molecular formula, Basic unit formula, Protparam tool.

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323 Effect of Surface Pretreatments on Nanocrystalline Diamond Deposited On Silicon Nitride Substrates

Authors: D.N Awang Sh'ri, E. Hamzah

Abstract:

The deposition of diamond films on a Si3N4 substrate is an attractive technique for industrial applications because of the excellent properties of diamond. Pretreatment of substrate is very important prior to diamond deposition to promote nucleation and adhesion between coating and substrate. Deposition of nanocrystalline diamonds films on silicon nitride substrate have been carried out by HF-CVD technique using mixture of methane and hydrogen gases. Different pretreatment of substrate including chemical etching consists of hot acid etching and basic etching and mechanical etching were used to study the quality of diamond formed on the substrate. The structure and morphology of diamond coating have been studied using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) while diamond film quality has been characterized using Raman spectroscopy. AFM was used to investigate the effect of chemical etching and mechanical pretreatment on the surface roughness of the substrates and the resultant morphology of nanocrystalline diamond. It was found that diamond film deposited on as-received, basic etched and grinded substrate shows the morphology of cauliflower while blasted and acidic etched substrates produce smooth, continuous diamond film. However, the Raman investigation did not show any deviation in quality of diamond film for any pretreatment.

Keywords: Nanocrystalline diamond, Chemical VaporDeposition, Pretreatment, Silicon Nitride

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322 Computer Aided Drug Design and Studies of Antiviral Drug against H3N2 Influenza Virus

Authors: Aditi Shukla, Ambarish S. Vidyarthi, Subir Samanta

Abstract:

The worldwide prevalence of H3N2 influenza virus and its increasing resistance to the existing drugs necessitates for the development of an improved/better targeting anti-influenza drug. H3N2 influenza neuraminidase is one of the two membrane-bound proteins belonging to group-2 neuraminidases. It acts as key player involved in viral pathogenicity and hence, is an important target of anti-influenza drugs. Oseltamivir is one of the potent drugs targeting this neuraminidase. In the present work, we have taken subtype N2 neuraminidase as the receptor and probable analogs of oseltamivir as drug molecules to study the protein-drug interaction in anticipation of finding efficient modified candidate compound. Oseltamivir analogs were made by modifying the functional groups using Marvin Sketch software and were docked using Schrodinger-s Glide. Oseltamivir analog 10 was detected to have significant energy value (16% less compared to Oseltamivir) and could be the probable lead molecule. It infers that some of the modified compounds can interact in a novel manner with increased hydrogen bonding at the active site of neuraminidase and it might be better than the original drug. Further work can be carried out such as enzymatic inhibition studies; synthesis and crystallizing the drug-target complex to analyze the interactions biologically.

Keywords: H3N2 Influenza, Neuraminidase, Oseltamiviranalogs, structure based drug designing

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321 Improvement of Water Distillation Plant by Using Statistical Process Control System

Authors: Qasim Kriri, Harsh B. Desai

Abstract:

Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia is portrayed by difficulties and accomplishments. One of the fundamental difficulties is water shortage. With a specific end goal to beat water shortage, significant ventures have been attempted in sea water desalination, water circulation, sewerage, and wastewater treatment. The motivation behind Statistical Process Control (SPC) is to decide whether the execution of a procedure is keeping up an acceptable quality level [AQL]. SPC is an analytical decision-making method. A fundamental apparatus in the SPC is the Control Charts, which follow the inconstancy in the estimations of the item quality attributes. By utilizing the suitable outline, administration can decide whether changes should be made with a specific end goal to keep the procedure in charge. The two most important quality factors in the distilled water which were taken into consideration were pH (Potential of Hydrogen) and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). There were three stages at which the quality checks were done. The stages were as follows: (1) Water at the source, (2) water after chemical treatment & (3) water which is sent for packing. The upper specification limit, central limit and lower specification limit are taken as per Saudi water standards. The procedure capacity to accomplish the particulars set for the quality attributes of Berain water Factory chose to be focused by the proposed SPC system.

Keywords: Acceptable quality level, statistical quality control, control charts, process charts.

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